


Holding Sunrise

by PeterStark



Series: Marked by Fate [5]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Adorable Barry Allen, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Awkward Conversations, First Kiss, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I stand by it, M/M, No Beta, Oliver queen is a good man, Protective Oliver Queen, Sharing Emotions, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:06:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26297623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PeterStark/pseuds/PeterStark
Summary: Oliver released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Wh-what is that? I wasn't... I didn't touch the Mark." Oliver wouldn't do that. That would require him wrapping a hand around that fragile, pale column of Barry's neck. Oliver couldn't trust himself with that, he broke people he touched."Um..." Barry seemed affected too, pressing back against the wall. "My friend, Iris, said she went through this with Eddie. Apparently, getting close physically makes your head all mind meld-y the first couple times, she said after about a week it eased but..she can't feel Eddie's emotions with his Mark so...it might be different for us."
Relationships: Barry Allen/Oliver Queen
Series: Marked by Fate [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1564228
Comments: 10
Kudos: 190





	Holding Sunrise

**Author's Note:**

> Three in one day. Guys... I might be Batman.  
> Just kidding. I don't have a utility belt...and I'd pick a different hero if I could.  
> I own nothing.

He'd warned Barry that things were darker in Starling. For a moment, Oliver was sure that Barry would go running, leave him behind, see him for the monster that he really was. Barry got upset, yes. Argued with his methods, yes. But he didn't leave, he didn't call Oliver a monster. The archer was starting to wonder if the lightning bolt scrambled the speedster's brains a little bit, because it was fairly obvious that Oliver was not a good person by any measure, but Barry seemed to think he was.

"You could have invited everybody, they'd like this." Barry said lightly, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"Well, no, they would LOVE this, but this is just for the two of us."

Barry blushed lightly, a cute hint of pink in his cheeks, but he still managed a witty retort. "You mean the ONE of you."

"This was YOUR idea." Oliver snapped back. It had been Barry's idea. Something about team bonding and getting better at working together 'coordinating fighting styles'. The way that Barry had blushed when he'd said it led Oliver to believe it wasn't strictly a team-building exercise, not to the speedster. Oliver did find the shy smile and blush adorable. Plus he was curious... "You can't expect me to believe that you don't want to know, once and for all, who would win: me or you."

"You mean if you DON'T shoot me in the back?" Barry asked, raising an eyebrow.

Oliver shook his head. "You've got to get over that, Barr." His lips pulled up in a smile. "That was one time."

"Bullshit! You pulled the same strategy when I got whammied." Barry shoved his shoulder in an almost...playful? manner.

"At least I didn't get you with the exploding ones. I could have, but didn't."

Barry rolled his eyes. "Let's run some statistics. Points for me: I have super powers, you have arrows-that run out."

"And I have strategy and tactical awareness." Something Barry decidedly lacked, but even Oliver had to admit that he was getting a little better at it.

"When I'm fighting you, it's literally like you're standing still. You're like a statue."

Oliver chuckled. His cheeks and jaw hurt from smiling. That was new, something that it seemed only Barry could do, make him smile till it hurt in a good way. That thought alone sent that warm electric hum that was usual only in the Mark pulsing through Oliver's whole body. "That's tough talk, you ready to back it up, big guy?" He didn't mean for that to come out the way it sounded, almost...flirty, though he was pleased at the flush of color in Barry's cheeks again.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Barry bounced back, quick on his feet, as usual. Then he grew serious and put his hand on Oliver's shoulder. "Hey, by the way."

"Hm?"

"You were wrong." Barry continued, explaining himself. "When you told me I could inspire people, you said you couldn't, but you were wrong: you can inspire." He smiled a little. "Not as the Arrow, that guy is a douche."

Oliver snorted. He couldn't have said it better himself.

"But, that Oliver Queen guy, he's pretty inspiring."

Oliver felt a tidal wave of emotions rush over him. Pride. Trust. Confidence. Joy.

"He's a good guy." Barry continued.

"Um..." Coming from Barry, that was far more than just a compliment. "Thank you." Oliver didn't know how to deal with the emotions, he had to change the subject. "Since we're sharing," he cleared his throat, "you were wrong too."

Barry scoffed. "When?"

"Right now, because you think you can kick my ass." Oliver punched his shoulder back, returning the earlier playful gesture. Like a friend? Like soulmates somewhere between friend and superhero partners and...wherever this thing was heading.

A grin lit Barry's face like he was a Christmas tree (or a lit up menorah as Felicity would say).

"I can tell. That's your arrogant walk right there."

"Ooh, watching how I walk?" Barry asked, borderline flirty. "Well then, if you think you can kick mine, you'd better do it fast." He became a blur as he sprinted off.

"I get it, Barr, haha. You're fast." Oliver came to a halt as he saw Barry pause across the empty space. Oliver took the second to memorize his surroundings as he prepared his bow. "Ready?"

"Set!" Barry responded.

"Go." He released the arrow and Barry caught it and the next one. Maybe he was getting smarter. But damn, Barry was fast wiry thing. The hits kept coming. Oliver barely got the chance to spear his leg with a flechette. It wouldn't slow him down for long. But Oliver felt the pain of it in his Mark, it'd slow the speedster for a moment at least. That meant he had a moment to set a complex trap for Barry. He had time for six shots, he wasn't going to waste them on Barry.

The cables and traps he set up would have caught him, or at least, would have caught the Barry Allen of a couple weeks ago. This Barry didn't stumble, not even as he had to remove the foreign object from his leg and the cables he wrapped around his ankles.

Barry was up and moving again in a blink.

"Damn." Oliver cussed. His bow was suddenly gone.

Suddenly, Barry was ten feet away, holding his bow. "This is nice, so does it have an anti-speedster function or is it just for normies?"

Oliver tossed three flechettes. Barry dodged all of them, dropping the bow and rushing Oliver. He defended for about three seconds before he was shoved back, into a wall. He slipped a knife from a sheath and attacked. Before he knew what was happening, Barry had him pinned to the ground, his body pressed over his. Barry had the knife in his hand, casually pressed over Oliver's throat.

If anyone else did it. Oliver would have killed them without a moment of hesitation. He would have fought anyone else to the death, maybe even Dig. But he didn't fight Barry. He didn't feel afraid. There was something warm and calming feeling emanating from the Mark on his hand.

"I think that settles it." The speedster tossed the knife to the side, his weight shifting slightly. "Guess I came out on top." Barry flushed at the unwitting double entendre. He seemed to notice his position, straddling the older man.

Oliver couldn't help make the adorable blush deeper. "On top this time." Oliver agreed and with a single twist he rolled them. Barry flat on his back, staring up at him with wide eyes, his legs splayed on either side of Oliver's hips. The speedster was in a different sort of vulnerable position. "In the future, may or may not be up for negotiation. Depends on what you like, I'm pretty flexible, myself, so it's your call."

Barry didn't move, his chest rising and falling rapidly, eyes blown wide. "Um...huh? What was that?" He almost looked dazed.

Oliver felt it too, almost like a haze around his mind, clouding everything up. But it felt nice, pleasent. "You know, you won the fight, but this right here, feels like a victory to me." Oliver smirked.

Barry seemed to come back to himself, shoving Oliver back without any malice. "No. I won, fair and square."

Oliver chuckled and got up. "This stays between us, yeah?"

"Can't let your team see you take a hit to your pride, huh?" Barry smiled.

Oliver rolled his eyes, held out his hand and pulled Barry to his feet. "Sure." Oliver noticed how Barry took his hand and felt his respect for the younger man double. Easily, Barry could have touched the Mark, but instead he didn't, making it a point that his fingers stayed a good two inches from the soulmark, and then letting go as soon as he was on his feet. "You're getting better."

"I have a half-decent teacher, when he isn't being an ass."

"I'm not always an ass." Oliver paused. "Okay, maybe I am, but I like to think it's for good reason." 

Barry just laughed and held out his hand. "Good try anyway. Maybe you'll beat me next time with your oh-so-sage wisdom and limited ammunition."

"You're not going to let me live this down, are you?" Oliver asked.

"Nope." Barry grinned.

Oliver took his hand and shook it. That warm, electric feeling that was usually reserved for the Mark was pulsing, spreading through his body, like waves crashing on a shore. He wanted to step closer to Barry, listen to the pull. The other part of him wanted to pull away. Something about it felt off, like an outside force was pressing them together.

"Hey? You okay?" Barry asked, his voice concerned. He kept one hand still in Oliver's, his other hand pulled off his mask. "You look a bit...cagey."

"I'm just..." Oliver closed his eyes. "I can...feel things that aren't mine. I don't-I don't like it. The control is...gone." Oliver looked up at Barry, then he figured it out. The warmth, that pull. It felt like arousal and affection and care and concern. All things he could see in Barry's body language, from his blown eyes and the way his tongue darted to his lips, to the gentle grip on his arm that didn't exceed his personal boundaries, to the crinkled eyebrows. The external pull, it was coming from him. But it didn't make sense. Oliver wasn't touching Barry's Mark, how could he feel all this? He could barely even see the green Mark, but it looked darker against Barry's skin, glowing.

Was proximity making the connection stronger? Trying to nudge them together? They hadn't been this close before, not for that long.

"I'm sorry." Barry breathed, he let go and took three steps back.

Oliver released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Wh-what is that? I wasn't... I didn't touch the Mark." Oliver wouldn't do that. That would require him wrapping a hand around that fragile, pale column of Barry's neck. Oliver couldn't trust himself with that, he broke people he touched.

"Um..." Barry seemed affected too, pressing back against the wall. "My friend, Iris, said she went through this with Eddie. Apparently, getting close physically makes your head all mind meld-y the first couple times, she said after about a week it eased but..she can't feel Eddie's emotions with his Mark so...it might be different for us."

It made sense. They hadn't really been close physically. Most the time they were across a table from each other. Briefly he'd held Barry when the metahuman had whammied him, but emotions had been so high they probably wouldn't have noticed it at the time. "Oh."

"Yeah, sorry. It's probably even more freaky around me. My brain is a bit hyper active after the lightning, so lots happening all at once, up here."

"I couldn't tell." Oliver chuckled. A few feet between them gave Oliver the feeling of control back, like he wasn't feeling the tug of an outside influence. That way he could sort out what HE was feeling. "Thank you...for standing back."

"I've pegged you for a bit of a control freak."

Oliver smiled and shook his head. "Well, I do like my thoughts and feelings to be my own, yes." Again his cheeks hurt from smiling. Only around Barry did that happen. That sunshine was infections. It warmed all of the cold dark places that hadn't breathed in the light of day for a very long time. He wished he could touch that sunshine, just once. Oliver, separate from Barry, knew what he was feeling and he was feeling like he wanted to kiss Barry Allen. "Can I?" He asked, reaching out toward Barry.

Confusion wrinkled Barry's brow. "What?" He asked, but he stepped forward.

Part of Oliver felt horrible, like some fairytale creature of the night luring sunshine past it's curfew of sunset and into the dark where all light died, smothered in shadows. But then again Barry just stepped so willingly, it almost made Oliver believe that maybe there was good in him, hope, because why else would someone so good come near him?

Oliver knew he would fall like Icarus, but damn it he'd touch the sun, if only once.

Oliver's hand found Barry's hair, his other hand gripping his shoulder. He didn't dare caress that smooth pale throat or cup his chin. That would bring him too close to the Mark. Oliver wouldn't inflict that pain again. He'd never let himself near something so vulnerable, not when Barry trusted him.

"Ollie?" And that was one of the nicest sounds Oliver had ever heard. Ever. The soft curious, open question that didn't have any mistrust in it.

It was pure and wonderful and fragile. Oliver prayed he wouldn't break it. "Okay?"

Barry's hand dug into Oliver's hair, his other hand cupping his chin.

Their noses bumped, then lips met.

Oliver yanked his head back. Lightning. He was pretty sure he just felt lightning.

"Sorry, happens sometimes."

"Just didn't expect it." Oliver whispered before leaning in again, capturing Barry's lips. That warm electric feeling was everywhere again. Amplified because Barry seemed to be feeling it too.

They seemed to fit together. And the feeling, likely a budding romance on both ends was getting jumbled, amplified by adrenaline filled lust and the giddiness of something new, of the fresh touch. The first time really touching a soulmate.

"Hmph." Barry huffed as his back hit the wall. But he didn't seem upset. Instead he seemed to be pulling Oliver closer, gripping shoulder and arm tightly. And with how close their bodies were, Oliver could tell very plainly that Barry was interested. "Mm. Oll-"

Oliver pressed their mouths together, stealing the breathy moan from Barry. He grabbed one of Barry's hands and laced their fingers, pressing them into the wall further.

Barry's hand reached for Oliver's right hand, but paused and he instead cupped Oliver's face, arching up against Oliver.

Oliver groaned. The pleasure didn't start off as his, but then it was, then he was pressing into Barry seeking friction and then it was his or...was that Barry's pleasure too? The line was getting really blurry. That was good right? No. That was bad. Why was it bad? Oliver forgot to think about it what was bothering him as he tried to memorize the taste of Barry. Would he get the chance to have this again. What if he could keep this? An eternal sunrise, so he didn't have to fear the dark inside of him.

Loss of control. Not being able to stop. Helpless. 

That was it. The thing he'd been feeling, the thing that made the blurry line bad. Those feelings were coming from Barry. Barry felt like he couldn't say no.

Oliver was barely able to pull his lips from Barry's. "We have to stop." Oliver whispered, but Barry's lips met his again. "Barry."

"Ollie?"

"It's okay. Just breathe." Oliver let go of Barry and took a few steps back, leaning against a pillar. His pants uncomfortably tight, though Barry seemed to be in a similar situation, though his body was much more tense as if he were fighting to stay still.

"Th-that was. Good. Yes, good. Wow. Awesome. 10/10." Barry breathed.

Oliver's eyes widened as he looked at Barry. "But you...you didn't feel safe. I made you feel unsafe."

Barry's eyes rolled back and he shook his head. "It wasn't you. It was me."

"What?" Oliver asked, adjusting himself and trying really hard to not look at the bulge in Barry's suit, at the pink debauched lips, ruffled hair and flushed cheeks. Oliver definitely wanted to walk over there and keep indulging. But Barry had been scared...of himself.

"It's um...a bit embarrassing." Barry said, his cheeks growing darker.

"What is?

Barry looked anywhere but at Oliver. "My enhancements kinda make things like this feel difficult...out of my control, if that means anything."

"How?"

"Remember being a teenager?"

"Yeah." Oliver said.

"Multiply that horniness by a football team and then factor in multiple orgasms. I've found that...I'm not exactly in my right mind all the time. Doesn't feel safe. I get worried that I'll do something wrong. Lose control."

Oliver paused and nodded. He understood that fear of losing control, not in that arena, but in others. "Have you had a hard time with that? No pun intended, God, I'm starting to sound like Felicity."

Barry laughed, so it was worth it. "No. I mean, I met you before I got struck so when I woke up I figured I wasn't really going to, you know fool around with someone random...just in case. But. Let's just say it's been a distraction before."

Oliver kinda wanted to know what that meant, but also didn't want to make Barry uncomfortable. "Okay. So...this emotion-share thing is a bit much at the moment."

"Agreed."

"Say we try to save the closer stuff for later?"

"Yeah." Barry nodded.

Oliver slowly walked forward and carefully pressed a kiss to Barry's jaw. "Okay, Barr?" That touch, quick and light. That was easier. He'd felt something briefly, but not that overwhelming mixing of the minds.

"Perfect." Barry nodded. "Um...I feel like I should...um...go." He shifted awkwardly, probably in pain, constrained in his suit like that.

"See you later, Barry."

"Next time, Ollie." 

Oliver swore he felt arms wrap around him and the ghostly feeling of lips on his cheek before Barry was gone, but it happened too quick to be sure.

-

Two weeks later saw yellow lightning flash through Oliver's room. "Popcorn?" Barry said, holding out a bag.

"Yeah. I'll have some." Oliver agreed. They were content watching a movie together in companionable silence, snacking on popcorn.

"I won't break you know?" Barry said idly once. It was a tentative agreement they'd shared, to see where this soulmate thing was going. What it meant to them. They hadn't kissed again or even hugged much. Not that they avoided contact, they just didn't push it, not really. They were taking things slow, which Barry had laughed at, but had also wholeheartedly agreed to.

Oliver lifted his left arm and wrapped it around Barry's shoulder.

Barry leaned into Oliver's side and closed his eyes, content.

"Nap time?"

"I just worked eight hours, vigilante-d for four, then ran six hundred miles. Sh. Lemme rest."

"Okay." Oliver snorted. He didn't expect the speedster to fall asleep. Sleeping near someone required trust, faith. Surely he hadn't earned that from the man who was sunshine incarnate. But there Barry was, snoring lightly against his side, completely relaxed. Oliver smiled and kissed the top of his head gently.

He knew the sunrise would come to an end, but it sure felt good to stand in the warmth. For the first time since before the island, Oliver felt hope. Perhaps it's because hope so clearly radiated off of Barry. Even though they couldn't feel each other's emotions anymore, not unless they touched each other's Marks, that feeling still lingered. Whenever Barry entered the room, he brought light and hope with him.

It was starting to catch on.

**Author's Note:**

> They gonna get closer. And eventually I'll diverge from cannon, but whatever.  
> Take care.


End file.
